Self-Trained Service Dogs

This will be a very short post from me because I’m looking for input from the service dog world.

Although our research with service dogs for MS will include only professionally trained dogs because we have to keep our focus narrow, I know many people have successfully trained their own dogs.  Every day I get questions about self-training, but have no frame of reference.

There are many reasons to train your own dog: You could live too far away from a provider, you might have been on a waiting list forever, you may be really good with dogs and feel confident that you can do it, you are having trouble raising the funds…

Please, if you have experiences, either positive or negative, add your voice to this.  Thanks to all.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Training Standards for Service Dogs

One of my soapboxes, (oh my, so many soapboxes, so little time), is the masquerading of pets as service dogs.  People want to take their pooches everywhere, but sorry, every pet dog is not a service dog.  This is the most comprehensive list of specifications for service dogs that I’ve ever seen.  Designer pooches, do you recognize yourselves?

Have you trained your own service dog?

We've had several requests for advice on self-trained service dogs.  Please, if you have trained your dog or know anyone who has, or have a resource that might help, tell us about your experiences.